Nanoparticles Could Someday Lead to End of Chemo For Cancer Treatment

June 29th, 2009

Orlando, Fla. – June 25, 2009 - James G. Schwade, M.D., Executive Director of CyberKnife Center of Miami and Palm Beach, says new information regarding cancer treatment released states that nanoparticles could someday target and destroy tumors, sparing patients from toxic, whole-body chemotherapies. (www.cyberknifemiami.com)

Specially engineered by University of Central Florida Assistant Professor J. Manuel Perez and his colleagues used a drug called Taxol for their cell culture studies, recently published in the journal Small, because it is one of the most widely used chemotherapeutic drugs. Taxol normally causes many negative side effects because it travels throughout the body and damages healthy tissue as well as cancer cells.

“What’s unique about our work is that the nanoparticle has a dual role, as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent in a biodegradable and biocompatible vehicle,” Perez said.

Perez has spent the past five years looking at ways nanotechnology can be used to help diagnose, image and treat cancer and infectious diseases. It’s part of the quickly evolving world of nanomedicine.

The process works like this. Cancer cells in the tumor connect with the engineered nanoparticles via cell receptors that can be regarded as “doors” or “docking stations.” The nanoparticles enter the cell and release their cargo of iron oxide, fluorescent dye and drugs, allowing dual imaging and treatment.

“Although the results from the cell cultures are preliminary, they are very encouraging,” Perez said.

A new chemistry called “click chemistry” was utilized to attach the targeting molecule (folic acid) to the nanoparticles. This chemistry allows for the easy and specific attachment of molecules to nanoparticles without unwanted side products. It also allows for the easy attachment of other molecules to nanoparticles to specifically seek out particular tumors and other malignancies.  For more information on this and other emerging cancer news visit www.ca123.com.

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Ovarian Changes May Reveal Obesity -Infertility Association

June 22nd, 2009
A report published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism says that prior to ovulation, women who are obese have changes around the ovary that seem to play a part in the well-known link between obesity and decreased fertility.
 
The study’s lead author,Dr. Rebecca Robker, from Adelaide University in Australia and  said in a statement that the characteristics of a woman’s eggs are influenced by the surroundings in which they develop inside her ovary. “Our study found that obese women have abnormally high levels of fats and inflammation in the fluid surrounding their eggs, which can impact an egg’s developmental potential,”she said.
 
For the study, the researchers evaluated 96 women who attended a private infertility clinic. With the use of standard body mass index criteria, these women were then divided, more or less equally, into three groups such as normal weight, overweight, and obese. The follicular fluid, the fluid that surrounds the ovarian tissues, was sampled during egg retrieval, and was studied for the presence of hormones, metabolites, and genetic expression within certain groups of cells.
 
The researchers found that the follicular fluid levels of insulin, lactate, triglycerides, and C-reactive protein increased with the rise in body mass index. However, the levels of sex hormone binding globulin decreased as the body mass index increased. On the other hand, slight variations in insulin-regulated gene expressions in granulosa cells were observed between women who were obese and those with normal weight.
 
In their conclusion, the authors mentioned that how these local environmental alterations within the ovary influence its function, the quality of the egg, or both, is still to be investigated, but according to them, these are “likely to be significant.”

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National Cancer Institute: Variability In Pancreatic Cancer Care Found With Newly Developed Quality Indicators

June 15th, 2009

A set of expert consensus-based, quality-of-care indicators identified considerable variability in the quality of pancreatic cancer care among hospitals and may be used to evaluate and identify areas for improvement, according to a new study in the June 9 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Factors responsible for variability in pancreatic cancer patient outcomes among hospitals in the United States have been difficult to identify because valid indicators of high-quality care have not been available. Researchers undertook this study because pancreatic cancer care has shown substantial hospital-to-hospital variability in outcomes.

To identify such indicators, Karl Y. Bilimoria, M.D., M.S., of the American College Surgeons and the Department of Surgery at Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues gathered a panel of 20 pancreatic cancer experts to rank potential quality indicators based on the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Methodology, rating each at high or moderate validity or not valid. Adherence with the indicators at both the patient and hospital levels was assessed using data from the National Cancer Data Base of the American Collegeof Surgeons (2004-2005) for almost 50,000 patients treated at 1,134 hospitals in the United States. The panel identified 43 valid indicators, which assessed structural factors, clinical processes of care, treatment appropriateness, efficiency, and outcomes. Patient-level adherence with indicators ranged from 49.6% to 97.2%, whereas hospital-level adherence ranged from 6.8% to 99.9%. Of the 10 component indicators that were used to develop a composite score, most hospitals were adherent with fewer than half of the indicators.

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Infertility may be associated with testicular cancer

June 12th, 2009

Men in couples seeking treatment for infertility were found to be at an increased risk for developing testicular cancer, according to data from a U.S. based cohort. The risk was greatest among men with male factor infertility.

Analyzing data from 22,562  male partners of couples seeking fertility treatment between 1967 and 1988; 4,549 of these men had male factor infertility.
Records of these men were inked to the California Cancer Registry.
Researchers compared the incidence of testicular cancer among this group with data from age-matched men from the SEER database.

Thirty-four cases of testicular germ cell cancer were diagnosed among the infertile cohort. Although men seeking infertility treatment had an increased risk of subsequently developing cancer, those men with male factor infertility had a significantly increased risk for the disease.

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ASCO Conference Highlight Studies Showing Critical Challenges In Cancer Research and Care

June 8th, 2009

Orlando, FL- June 5, 2009- Studies examining ongoing controversies in the field of clinical oncology were presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). 

The studies presented at a press briefing highlighted ongoing controversies in the field, and challenges physicians face when launching clinical trials, evaluating trial results, and advising patients on screening, and determining the most appropriate treatment.

Highlights Included:

  • Lung cancer screening: The effectiveness of lung cancer screening in reducing death rates has been widely debated in recent years. A new study finds that lung cancer screening using low-dose computed tomography results in a high rate of false positives (33 percent after two screenings) and significant follow-up testing, data that should help people at high risk for the disease, make informed decisions about screening.
  • Impact of common antidepressants on tamoxifen effectiveness: Hot flashes are a common side-effect of tamoxifen treatment to prevent breast cancer recurrence, and are often managed with the antidepressant drugs Paxil and Prozac. Two new studies report differing results about whether these antidepressants have an adverse impact on the effectiveness of tamoxifen. Additional research is needed to resolve these differences, though women may want to consider alternative antidepressants in the meantime.
  • Treatment of breast cancer micrometastases: Not all women with breast cancer undergo surgery to remove all of the axillary (underarm) lymph nodes upon detection of tiny micrometastases in the lymph node nearest the tumor (the “sentinel” node), given a lack of conclusive data to date demonstrating the effectiveness of such treatment. However, a new study finds significantly higher rates of cancer recurrence among women with micrometastases who do not undergo axillary lymph node dissection, supporting routine use of the procedure to prevent the return of cancer. 
  • Patient accrual in clinical trials: Low rates of patient enrollment in cancer clinical trials have been an ongoing challenge in cancer research, with just five percent of cancer patients participating. A new analysis of federally-funded cancer trials finds that a full 40 percent of trials examined did not meet their enrollment goals, threatening their ability to report statistically significant results. The study found that the longer a trial takes to develop, the less likely it is to meet its accrual goal, emphasizing the importance of finding ways to shorten clinical trial development time.

For more information regarding these and other timely cancer treatment information please visit www.ca123.com.

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Melanoma Foundation Launches Virtual Resource Center

June 3rd, 2009

The Aim at Melanoma Foundation has created AimatMelonoma.org, for melanoma patients and their caregivers. Designed as a one stop resource center, the design offers breaking news on melanoma research; prevention and early detection guides. A free oncology nurse who can be contacted via email or phone as well as a virtual support network of melanoma patients, survivors, and caregivers, resource links for patent and caregiver support; and a clinical trial matching and referral service.

The site also links to opportunities for volunteering and advocacy and a memorial wall to remember those who have lost loved ones to the disease.

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Landmark Policy Report Concludes Cancer Prevention Worldwide Can Be Prevented In Many Cases

May 18th, 2009

A landmark policy report on worldwide cancer prevention strategies was released by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) recently. It states that many cancers could be prevented worldwide, by making public health and cancer prevention in general a higher priority.

According to James G. Schwade, M.D., FACR, FACRO, FASTRO, executive director of the CyberKnife Centers of Miami and Palm Beach, (www.morsecyberknife.com), the recommendations highlight a growing prevalence of cancer prevention and its related illnesses rather than a reactionary curative approach. “If some of the recommendations of this report were implemented the public would be much better informed about cancer prevention.”  Other recommendations included:

  • Governments should require widespread walking and cycling routes to encourage physical activity
  • Governments should encourage healthy food and discourage unhealthy food through legislation and pricing
  • Industry should give a higher priority for goods and services that encourage people to be active, especially youth.
  • The food and drink industry should make public health an explicit priority.

For more information on this report and other cancer related topics visit www.hemonctoday.com and www.ca123.com. For information on non-invasive cancer treatment with the CyberKnife, please visit www.cyberknifemiami.com.

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Exciting News on Drug Approval from FDA for Brain Tumor Patients

May 8th, 2009

Acording to Dr. Schwade, “for the patients we treat with glioblastoma, this may significantly improve their quality of life.” For such an aggressive type of brain cancer we haven’t seen any vastly superior pharmaceutical improvement in ten years.”

The FDA approved Genentech Inc.’s oncology drug Avastin as a treatment of brain tumor patients. Government regulators granted accelerated approval for Avastin for people with glioblastoma who have experienced a progression of the disease following prior treatment. Glioblastoma affects 10,000 people per year nationwide. Glioblastoma tumors nearly always return following initial treatment.

Genentech gained FDA approval after concluding an open-label, multicenter, non-comparative Phase II study of 167 patients with glioblastoma.

The CyberKnife Centers of Miami and Palm Beach utilize image guided robotic radiosurgery to treat different types of cancer throughout the entire body. CyberKnife is a precisely targeted intense dose of radiation that “ablates” cancer cells in 1-5 treatments with no side effects, non invasively and without pain or discomfort. For more information regarding CyberKnife cancer treatment please visit http://www.cyberknifemiami.com or call 1-800-204-0455.

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James G. Schwade M.D. Relays CyberKnife Prostate Treatment Best Practice Statement

May 5th, 2009

Miami, FL– May 4, 2009 – James G. Schwade, M.D. executive director of  the CyberKnife Centers of  Palm Beach and Miami, (http://www.morsecyberknife.com) relays new best practices statement by the ALA, (American Urological Association) regarding CyberKnife treatment on prostate.  According to Dr. Schwade, “the most important message of this statement is that prostate cancer testing is an individual decision that patients of any age should make in conjunction with their physicians and urologists.”

The ALA guidance stresses that PSA testing should be individualized, and that men should get baseline readings at age 40. The new Best Practice Statement updates the AUA’s previous guidance, which was issued in 2000. Major changes to the AUA statement include new recommendations about who should be considered for PSA testing, as well as when a biopsy is indicated following an abnormal PSA reading. According to the AUA, early detection and risk assessment of prostate cancer should be offered to well-informed men 40 years of age or older who have a life expectancy of at least 10 years. The future risk of prostate cancer is closely related to a man’s PSA score; a baseline PSA level above the median for age 40 is a strong predictor of prostate cancer. Such testing may not only allow for earlier detection of more curable cancers, but may also allow for more efficient, less frequent testing.

The CyberKnife, image guided robotic radiosurgery that precisely targets small and hard to reach tumors is very effective in treating prostate cancer. Recently, a study announced the findings of CyberKnife treatment on prostate cancer success. For that information please visit www.cyberknifemiami.com or www.cyberknifepalmbeach.com.

The new AUA statement is based on panel review of all available professional literature, members’ clinical experience and expert opinion. The new statement will be available online to the public at www.AUAnet.org.

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Message from James G. Schwade, M.D. About New Cancer Breakthrough

April 23rd, 2009

Filter Captures Tumor Cells from Blood

James G. Schwade, M.D., Executive Director of CyberKnife Center of Miami and Palm Beach (www.morsecyberknife.com) highlights a novel device employing a “membrane microfilter” that has the ability to separate these cells from normal ones. Announced this week from researchers at the University of Southern California Institute of Technology, the filter can process blood and capture circulating tumor cells (CTCs), or cells that have escaped from a tumor into the circulatory system.

Circulating tumor cells have emerged as a potential “surrogate biopsy” for metastatic disease, and there is a growing need for noninvasive methods, such as capturing these cells, to diagnose and monitor cancer, noted Anthony Williams, a graduate student at the Keck School of Medicine. The technology is not commercially available currently, but will be in several upcoming clinical trials to monitor patients.

According to Dr. Schwade, emerging medical research and technology such as this is always available through the CyberKnife Center’s website, “we feel that its extremely important to continue to bring news and information regarding the breakthroughs in cancer treatment for our patients education and our physicians.”

The device exploits differences in the sizes of normal and cancer cells. “Circulating tumor cells are larger than their normal counterparts,” said Mr. Williams. “The pore sizes on the filter allow normal-sized blood cells to pass through, while it captures the larger tumor cells.” Compared to other technologies, which can take hours to analyze a sample, the microfilter device is relatively fast, producing a result for certain samples in a matter of minutes.

Information on the study and further clinical use of this emerging treatment can be found on the National Cancer Institutes’ web site.  www.nci.com.

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